Champions retain titles at EFC Africa 14
EFC Africa champions Costa Ioannou and Demarte Pena retained their titles and remain undefeated at EFC Africa 14, which was held on 1 June, 2012, at Carnival City, among a host of other bouts.
Angolan featherweight champion Pena fought valiantly for four rounds against Durban's Wesley "The Young Assassin" Hawkey. Towards the end of the fight it seemed that Hawkey may be too strong and too aggressive for the champ, but Pena managed a remarkable grappling feat by taking Hawkey's back and locking in a rear naked choke with just seconds left in the round. Pena's professional MMA record now advances to four wins, no losses.
Lightweight champion Ioannou had to fight all five rounds against challenger Adam "The Prodigy" Speechly. Speechly definitely seemed the fresher of the two as the bout went to the judges' score cards, but Ioannou's ground control and elbow strikes proved enough for his hand to be raised in a unanimous decision victory. Ioannou's professional MMA record now advances to five wins, no losses.
A nerve-wracking contest of wills
Garreth "Soldierboy" McLellan made good on his promise to deliver the intensity that once made him an EFC AFRICA middleweight champion. By defeating Danie van Heerden in a nerve-wracking contest of wills, McLellan moved one step closer to regaining the title from current champion Jeremy "Pitbull" Smith.
In the heavyweight division, Bernardo "Black Panther" Mikixi's power-punching decimation of Mahmoud Hassan secured a title challenge. Mikixi, the Angolan behemoth, will face South Africa's Ruan "Fangzz" Potts in the EFC Africa hexagon later in the year to determine who the rightful heavyweight champion should be.
Full results
• Tez Makuebo defeated James Le Roux by unanimous decision after three rounds
• Markus Taljaard defeated Wage Groth by submission (triangle choke) in round three
• Alain Ilunga defeated Koba Iakobidze by submission (strikes) in round three
• David Buirski defeated Kelvin Mwale by TKO (ground 'n pound) in round one
• Alex Cheboub defeated Ashley Calvert by submission (keylock) in round two
• JP Kruger defeated Mawande Vapi via submission (rear naked choke) in round one
• Terrence Griessel defeated Gareth Buirski via submission (guillotine choke) in round three
• Francois Kabulu defeated Amr Wahman by unanimous decision after three rounds
• Wentzel Nel defeated Denzil Wait via TKO (ground 'n pound) in round two
• Garreth McLellan defeated Danie van Heerden by submission (rear naked choke) in round two
• Bernardo Mikixi defeated Mahmoud Hassan by TKO (ground 'n pound) in round one
• Demarte Pena defeated Wesley Hawkey via submission (rear naked choke) in round four
• Costa Ioannou defeated Adam Speechly by unanimous decision after five rounds
EFC Africa returns to Carnival City on 27 July for EFC Africa 15. Tickets are on sale at Computicket and tickets for the live broadcast to Nu Metro Cinemas available at www.numetro.co.za. The three main card bouts will be broadcast live across Africa on e.tv, starting at 10.30pm. Full event streamed live online and more information available at efcafrica.com.
